Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Texas Faith: What is America’s common creed and how do we forge it together?

President Obama is one of
the best communicators that there is. I am writing a full blown article on how I
felt through the inauguration and I am sure some of you can relate with it.
However, in this piece at Dallas Morning News, it is about his masterful skills
in building bridges between the entrepreneurial individualism of Republicans and
Communalism of Democrats. This is our moment in history, and we have to leave a
legacy of peace, prosperity and harmony to the next
generation.

Throughout his inaugural
address today, President Barack Obama emphasized our common creed, we the
people and taking action together. In short, his speech was heavy on the
communal aspects of our work as Americans. His address contrasts with the
individualism you often hear from Republicans. They regularly emphasize
enterprenurialism, personal initiative and the power of local communities. So,
here is the question I would like you to consider: What is America’s
common creed and how do we forge it together?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for
Pluralism, DallasPresident Obama is one of
the greatest communicators in our modern history. Perhaps he is the first
president to have articulated America’s common creed profoundly, clearly and
comprehensively as envisioned in the immortal declaration by our Founding
Fathers: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

The
success of an individual hinges on the success of others around him or her. You
cannot build a successful business without the support system and consumers for
your goods and services. The president said, “We believe that America’s
prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle
class.”

Indeed, the entrepreneurialism of Republicans will bear fruit and
multiply when there is an environment for it. It is not a charity, welfare or a
noble thing. Instead, it is a genuine investment in human capital that pulls up
men and women from the ditches onto a level playing field. That effort allows
more people to compete in the marketplace for resources and become “synergists”
to each others’ success.

He also articulated the need to be free and to
be regulated: “Together we discovered that a free market only thrives when there
are rules to ensure competition and fair play.”

The president turned the
light on a bridge between individualism and the communal aspect of our life. The
bridge was always there but had remained in the dark due to the chasm developed
through arrogance of bigger majority in the house by each party in the last
eight years. Instead of serving the purpose they were elected for their purpose
became defeating the other for some.

The message of the president was for
all Americans. I hope the elected ones will heed his wisdom and continue to be a
catalyst in the pursuit of our happiness.

And here comes the ultimate
wisdom from the president: We have always understood that when times change, so
must we, that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new
challenges, that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires
collective action.”.....
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